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Away from Search
Engines...
Don't forget: there's more to the internet than search
engines. (Do you use a search engine in order to get to
every site you visit?)
Promote your site in traditional advertisements. Make sure
it's included on all business cards, etc. And your best
visitors are returning visitors so give them a reason to
come back: keep updating your content
What's an SEO? Does Google recommend working with companies
that offer to make my site Google-friendly?
SEO is an abbreviation for "search engine optimizer." Many
SEOs and other agencies and consultants provide useful
services for website owners, from writing copy to giving
advice on site architecture and helping to find relevant
directories to which a site can be submitted. However, a few
unethical SEOs have given the industry a black eye through
their overly aggressive marketing efforts and their attempts
to unfairly manipulate search engine results.
While Google doesn't have relationships with any SEOs and
doesn't offer recommendations, we do have a few tips that
may help you distinguish between an SEO that will improve
your site and one that will only improve your chances of
being dropped from search engine results altogether.
Be wary of SEO firms and web consultants or agencies that
send you email out of the blue.
Amazingly, we get these spam emails too:
"Dear google.com,
I visited your website and noticed that you are not listed
in most of the major search engines and directories..."
Reserve the same skepticism for unsolicited email about
search engines as you do for "burn fat at night" diet pills
or requests to help transfer funds from deposed dictators.
No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.
Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings, allege a
"special relationship" with Google, or advertise a "priority
submit" to Google. There is no priority submit for Google.
In fact, the only way to submit a site to Google directly is
through our Add URL page or through the Google Sitemaps
program, and you can do this yourself at no cost whatsoever.
Be careful if a company is secretive or won't clearly
explain what they intend to do.
Ask for explanations if something is unclear. If an SEO
creates deceptive or misleading content on your behalf, such
as doorway pages or "throwaway" domains, your site could be
removed entirely from Google's index. Ultimately, you are
responsible for the actions of any companies you hire, so
it's best to be sure you know exactly how they intend to
"help" you.
You should never have to link to an SEO.
Avoid SEOs that talk about the power of "free-for-all"
links, link popularity schemes, or submitting your site to
thousands of search engines. These are typically useless
exercises that don't affect your ranking in the results of
the major search engines -- at least, not in a way you would
likely consider to be positive.
Some SEOs may try to sell you the ability to type keywords
directly into the browser address bar.
Most such proposals require users to install extra software,
and very few users do so. Evaluate such proposals with
extreme care and be skeptical about the self-reported number
of users who have downloaded the required applications.
Choose wisely.
While you consider whether to go with an SEO, you may want
to do some research on the industry. Google is one way to do
that, of course. You might also seek out a few of the
cautionary tales that have appeared in the press, including
this article on one particularly aggressive SEO: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002002970_nwbizbriefs12.html.
While Google doesn't comment on specific companies, we've
encountered firms calling themselves SEOs who follow
practices that are clearly beyond the pale of accepted
business behavior. Be careful.
Be sure to understand where the money goes.
While Google never sells better ranking in our search
results, several other search engines combine pay-per-click
or pay-for-inclusion results with their regular web search
results. Some SEOs will promise to rank you highly in search
engines, but place you in the advertising section rather
than in the search results. A few SEOs will even change
their bid prices in real time to create the illusion that
they "control" other search engines and can place themselves
in the slot of their choice. This scam doesn't work with
Google because our advertising is clearly labeled and
separated from our search results, but be sure to ask any
SEO you're considering which fees go toward permanent
inclusion and which apply toward temporary advertising.
Talk to many SEOs, and ask other SEOs if they'd recommend
the firm you're considering.
References are a good start, but they don't tell the whole
story. You should ask how long a company has been in
business and how many full time individuals it employs. If
you feel pressured or uneasy, go with your gut feeling and
play it safe: hold off until you find a firm that you can
trust. Ask your SEO firm if it reports every spam abuse that
it finds to Google using our spam complaint form at http://www.google.com/contact/spamreport.html.
Ethical SEO firms report deceptive sites that violate
Google's spam guidelines.
Make sure you're protected legally.
Don't be afraid to request a refund if you're unsatisfied
with your SEO's performance. Make sure you have a contract
in writing that includes pricing. The contract should also
require the SEO to stay within the guidelines recommended by
each search engine for site inclusion.
What are the most common abuses a website owner is likely to
encounter?
One common scam is the creation of "shadow" domains that
funnel users to a site by using deceptive redirects. These
shadow domains often will be owned by the SEO who claims to
be working on a client's behalf. However, if the
relationship sours, the SEO may point the domain to a
different site, or even to a competitor's domain. If that
happens, the client has paid to develop a competing site
owned entirely by the SEO.
Another illicit practice is to place "doorway" pages loaded
with keywords on the client's site somewhere. The SEO
promises this will make the page more relevant for more
queries. This is inherently false since individual pages are
rarely relevant for a wide range of keywords. More
insidious, however, is that these doorway pages often
contain hidden links to the SEO's other clients as well.
Such doorway pages drain away the link popularity of a site
and route it to the SEO and its other clients, which may
include sites with unsavory or illegal content.
What are some other things to look out for?
There are a few warning signs that you may be dealing with a
rogue SEO. It's far from a comprehensive list, so if you
have any doubts, you should trust your instincts. By all
means, feel free to walk away if the SEO:
owns shadow domains
puts links to their other clients on doorway pages
offers to sell keywords in the address bar
doesn't distinguish between actual search results and ads
that appear in search results
guarantees ranking, but only on obscure, long keyword
phrases you would get anyway
operates with multiple aliases or falsified WHOIS info
gets traffic from "fake" search engines, spyware, or
scumware
has had domains removed from Google's index or is not itself
listed in Google
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